Oslo Accords

Prior to the Accords, there was no independent government of the Palestinian territories.

The Accords:

1. Recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the people of Palestine.
   
2. Created the Palestinian Authority and granted it some authority for Palestinian self-governance, limited to internal security and civil matters.
   
3. Transferred specified territories to PA control.
   
4. Created the Palestinian Legislative Council, the legislature of the PA.
   
5. Forbid either side to alter the status of the Palestinian territories pending a permanent settlement.
   

The Accords did not achieve a permanent settlement. The parties agreed to establish a “Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority” for “a transitional period not exceeding five years [ending May 1999], leading to a permanent settlement”. No such permanent settlement was ever achieved, and it is unclear by the terms of the Accords that the PA is even supposed to still exist.

29 Palestinians were killed in the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre after the signing of the first Accord. 55 Israelis were killed in Hamas attacks intended as revenge and to derail the peace process.

Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated a month after signing the Oslo II Accord, which would turn out to be the last in the series. Shimon Peres, his successor, authorized the assassination of senior Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash, leading to another wave of suicide bombings.

The 2000 Camp David summit was an attempt to reach a permanent settlement, but reached no agreement at all. Fatah lost a great deal of support, and the Al-Aqsa Intifada began soon after. After the subsequent civil war between Fatah and Hamas, the PA no longer governs the Gaza Strip.

Israeli expansion in the Palestinian territories has continued despite the lack of a permanent settlement, and the level of violence in both Israel and Palestine has only increased.